Silkworm

Meet And Know About Silkworm

Silkworm be used by human for take the fiber as a matter for make woven silk.Silkworm is know the general public as the silkworm Bombyx mori.This business requires perseverace and a long time. Eventually cultivated silkworm can produce economic benefits of a high enough.

Silkworm Bombyx mori need murbei leaves as food. Maintenance of silkworm need a place that has a temperature to match

this is silkworm

cloth from silkworm

The Types of Silkworms

Divided into 2 (two) groups :

Wild Silk, Silkworm who used to live freely in several tree species

Bombyx mori, Kept indoors and is the main producer of silk that covers 95% of the world silk production

Silkworm are classified as wild silkworms :

Pilosamia ricini Hutt (Eri Silkworm), these caterpillars eat the leaves of jarak and in India the result of silk called eri silk.
Anthearia pernyi Guerin (Tasar Chinese Silkworm), these caetrpillar eat leaves of Quercus sp and silk produced is called silk tasar.
Anthereae yamamai guerin (Tasar Japanese Silkworm), these caterpillars eat leaves of Alianthus sp
Antheraea mylitta drury (Tasar India Silkworm), these caterpillars eat leaves ketapang (Terminalia sp). The resulting silk is silk tasar.

Silkworm (Bombyx Mori)

   Types of silkworms reared most humans to produce materials is a type of Bombyx Mori.Silkworm Bombyx Mori was found in China 3000 years before masehi.Bombyx word comes from the name of the fiber producing insect are included in familia bombyciade.Mori word derived from Morus (murbei), whose leaves are the food of this caterpillar.
   On murbei leaves contained an aphrodisiac in the form of glucoside and cause rejection of caterpillars eat the leaves of other plants because nothing of aphrodisiac.

Life Cycle
   Silkworm Bombyx Mori, including insect metamorphosis during its life experience.Starting from the egg, caterpillar (larva), chrysalis (pupa), and butterfly.
   At fisrt, female butterfly will lay eggs. egg size of about 0,4 cm. After the age of 10 - 12 days, the eggs will hatch into small caterpillars that lenggth 3 mm. For 3 days caterpillars eat murbei leaves and then going to bed and change it's caterpillar skin. During the silkworm lifetime had 4 times caterpillar molting and 5 period eating. Eating period is called 'instar'.
   Caterpillars will eat the leaves as much preparation for metamorphosis into butteflies. After reaching the fifth instar caterpillar will stop eating and start making a cocoon for 2-3 days. Then caterpillar metamorphose into butterflies for 11 days. Turned into a pupa inside the cocoon after the butterfly and it will come out of cocoon, to perform mariage the female will produce eggs.
   silkworm eggs out of colored black or dark brown, big head and his body still covered with feathers. On the second day, growing fat caterpillar body, greenish, and the feathers have fallen out. Later, the caterpillar stops feeding and enters a rest period that ended with a change of skin. After the turn of the of skin, the cartepillar enters the second instar stage onwards into the third instar, fourth, fifth instar, each preceded by a period of rest and change of skin.
   At the end of the fifth instar, there is no change of skin but gradually her body looks as if the opaque and the cartepillar stops eating. This worm has begun to issue and make a cocoon silk fiber. Silkworm cocoon are ready to make a caterpillar called aging.
   Long period of life from the moment of birth until the time of making cocoon is about one month, but it is actually strongly influenced by climate and local temperatures.
     For 1 month, growing of silkworm is very fast than weight of silkworm the day before make cocoon is about 10.000 times a new silkworm's weight born.

eggs of silkworm

the first instar

the second instar

the third instar

the fourth instar

the fifth instar

Cocoon

Butterfly

The Formation of Silk Fiber

     Silk Fiber produced by pairs of silk gland. Silk Fiber is double fiber are consist from fibroin and serisin.

A. Front
     channels expenditure of gland is open on the end right at the mouth of larva.

B. Middle     usually is pigment who have same shapes with serisin (C15-H23-N5-O8) as adhesive who covering about 25% from fiber weight easily soluble in the warm water.

C. Back
     produce the fibroin (C15-H28-N5-O6) as liquid silk who convering about 75% from weight and not soluble in the warm water.

     silkyarn from several fiber is reeling into one. Silkyarn can stand until 110 degree celcius. In 130 degree celcius silkyarn begin to burn. Silkyarn have wet 10% until 30% and silkyarn who had drying can spare the gas.

After silkworm to be cocoon in fifth instar and the next 14 days the silkworm change into butterfly who go out from the cocoon with holing the cocoon. Next, female butterfly who had married will produce the egg.